About Us

Trinity Church was founded in 1828, and is known both in and beyond Watertown for elegant, inspiring, traditional worship.

Trinity Church is a committed member of the worldwide Anglican Communion, an 80 million-member international association of 38 provinces including the Church of England, the Anglican Church of Canada, the Church of Australia, the Church of Wales, the Anglican Church of Mexico, the Church of Nigeria, and others. The Anglican Communion shares a common heritage of spirituality, worship, and mission, and is the third largest Christian communion in the world (after the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches).

Here in the USA, the Anglican Church (churches that are part of the Anglican Communion and in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury) is usually called The Episcopal Church, and is comprised of 109 dioceses and three regional areas, not only in the USA, but in 16 nations!

Trinity Church is part of the Diocese of Central New York, which lies between Canada and Pennsylvania. On the most local level, Trinity Church is part of the North Country District, a dozen congregations bordered by the St Lawrence River, Lake Ontario, reaching south to Lowville. The current Rector of Trinity Church also serves as the Dean of the North Country District.

The history of the Episcopal Church really is the history of the United States. We trace our roots back to the Jamestown settlement and have been an important part of our national identity for more than 400 years. At times we have been influential (more U.S. presidents have been Episcopalians than any other denomination) while at other times we have paid the price for being known as a church that challenges the status quo on a large number of controversial issues.

What and How We Believe

Believing is giving one’s heart to someone or some thing. Supporting our church community is our reliance on Holy Scripture; tradition as found in the Church’s official acts in the councils of the Church; and reason, our ability to have an inquiring and discerning heart in the study of our world, from Holy Scripture to the most recent discoveries of science.

We recognize that in this time of secularism and globalism and deep respect for individual rights, that no one person or church has possession of all the truth. It is our tradition to consider the Church as containing diverse understanding that springs from our grasp of scripture, tradition and reason. We believe we are all seeking the holy way, and we count on our community to help us find our way.